Knitted article and method of making same



Jan. 26, 1932. c. w. sTouT 1,843,100

KNITTED ARTICLE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed May 24, 1930 4sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES W. STOUT Jan. 26, 1932. c. w. sToUTKNITTED ARTICLE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed May 24. 1930 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Od l l/II' n zu z omu 5% INVENTOR 3/ CHARLES W. STOUTJan. 26, 1932.

C. W. STOUT KNITTED ARTICLE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed May 24, 19304 Sheets-Sheet 4 r-l- 1! l y. l i F3- mmnlll nnmlmnnnmnmml A w Iy"\t-if/5"\ I 1L f mum] lmx l raga.

INVENTOR CHARLES W. STOUT MMM Patented' Jan. '26,' 1932r Uru'rlsznlSTATES PATENT *o1-"FICE,

cHAnLEs wILsoN sroUnoE BROOKLYN, NEW Yoan, AssIGNoE 'ro AINsLIE KNIT'HNG.Application ledlay 24, 1930. Serial No. 455,393.

This invention relates to knitted articles, such as bret caps, and themethod of making same. One object of the invention is the economicproduction of a bret cap by knitting a plurality of similarly shapedseg,- ments or gores in integral succession to form the entire ca'p witha selvedge for the hatband. According to the invention the segments areknit by reciprocatory knitting and the two ends of each segment aretapered dis.- similarly vto provide the hatband and the necessarydii'erence in length from the crown ofthe cap to the point of maximumdiameter and from the maximum diameter to the hatband. l

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a bret cap before being seamedup made in accordance with my invention; v FFig. 2 is a bottom view ofthe cap shownin Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of one method ofmanipulating the courses and needles in successive lsegments of a cap inaccordance withthe invention, the knitting progressing from bottom totop of the iigure. A

Fig. 4 Iis a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the vmanner of knittingcourses in a cap according to Figs. 1 and 2; y

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 3 and 4 showing a third method ofknitting my novel Cap;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are developments of part of the needle circle of acircular hand knitting machine, at various points in knitting a cap inaccordance withFigs. 1 and 4: Fig. 6

- cap shown in the drawmgs', and I shall-first showingthe yarn guide andknitting cams about to begin a course in the direction of the arrow A onall the needles, Fig. 7 showingthe machine beginning the course in thedirection of arrow B which is the first partial course of a gore madeaccording to the method of Figs. 1 and 4, while Fig. 8 shows the machinebeginning the next course in the direction of the arrow C toward thehatband.

One of the diliculties of knitting bret caps has heretofore been theexpense and labor of obtaining segments of the proper shape and joiningthem together. According to my invention the segments are knit inintegral suc- E co. 1Nc.,-or BROOKLYN, NEW Yonx, A conrom'rIoN or NEWYom:

xNrr'rEn ARTICLE AND imrrron or MAKING SAME The cap is composed of aplurality of segments or gores 14 each tapered at both ends andinterknit with its neighbors' from one end to the other. Y I prefer totaper each end of a gore at'one side only. I make the widest partof'eachyIgore-which corresponds to the maximum diameter `11 of the cauch nearer the hatband end than the crown. This aidsin giving thecorrect shape to the hat. I also make thev taper .at the hatband endshorter and make this end 15 very blunt instead of a point,'theblunt'ends of ,all the gores constituting the hatband 12-of the cap.

lThe gores arepknit in such `manner thatthe ends 15 are selvedge edges.The crown end 16 of each gore is tapered toy a point-each consisting ofa single loop.b These loops form a small openin 17 in the inishedhatwhichcan be used to asten in atassel or other ornament. The first andlast gores are knit with loopers courses 18 in order that they may belooped together after the knitting is completed.

There are three methods \of knitting the explain the method shownin Fig.3. As already mentioned, the cap is knit throughout by reciprocatoryknitting and in the process of knitting according to my methods thegores are shaped completely joined to their neighbors. The method shownin Fig. 3 is particularly suited for a circular knitting machine, thatof Fig. 4 for either a circular or iat knitting machine and that of Fig.5 for a flat knitting machine. Figs, 6, 7 and 8 further illustrate themethods applied to a circular hand knitting machine and aremerely toshow basicprinciples of the methods. `For the sake of clarity a singlerow of gores together will be termed 'a castoff course. It will .beobvious that the machine ,can be arranged to begin the knitting ateither the' crownend 16 or the hatband end but once it has been decidedwhich end of the machine is tobe the crown end and in which directionthegores are to be knit the direction of the cast-off course 19 Iis alsodetermined. This cast-.off course-not the loopers courses 18-shouldbegin at thehatband end 15 and run to the crown end V16 in the examplesshown in the drawings,-assum ing that the knitting is proceeding fromthe bottom to the top of each figure. If 1t were knit the other wayI theformation at the'end of certain courses would not be satisfactory. Thelittle arrows in the drawings indicate the direction of knitting. f

vBeginning at the bottom of Fig. 3, where the knitting begins sixloopers courses 18 are made on all the needles, the knitting ending at gthe crown end. At the beginning of the last looper course the needlesand cams are in the osition shown in Fig. 6. These courses are listerused to unite the first gore tothe last re. The taper at the crown .endof the gore 1s then begun by first raising out of action the end needle20 at the crown end. A course Y, 21 is then'knit from crown to hatbandtakilig in all the needles at the hatband end. A

' return course to the crown is knit on the same group of needles afterwhich the active needle adjacent needle 2O is raised out of action and ytwo more courses knit-one from crown to hatband and another back again.These operations continue until the desired length of selvedge 15 forthe hatband has been knit.

In Fig. 3 the two whole gores 14 show 24 'courses, i. e., 12reciprocations including one course on allthe needles in the selvedge15. The description of this method from this point on can best be seenin the middle gore of Fig. 3. At `the completion of these 24 courseseleven needles are out ofaction and.'

the last course was toward the crown end. Before beginning the nextcourse another needle 'islifted out of action at the crown end asheretofore, and the' narrowing at the hatband is begun by lifting outthe end needle 22. As a result the course 23 knit Vthereafter is shorterat both ends than its p continue until 15 double courses shortened atboth ends have been knit and the desired amountof taper has beenobtained at both the hatband' and crown ends. Before knitting the nextcourse towards the hatband the usual narrowing can be made at the crownend and all the 15 idle needles at the hatband end are thrown intoaction as a group. This brings the knitting back in line with the bluntend 15 of the gore and picks up all the stitches on the hatband taper.The next course is the so-called cast-off course 19. Before it is knitall the 27 idle needles at the crown end are brought down into actionthus making the cast-off course a full one, i. e. on all the needles.This. finishes the gore and leaves the machine ready to raise the needleand knit .the course 21 of the .next gore. The actual relation of thecast-ofi' course to the taper at the crown is indicated by the dottedline 24.

When the final gore has been finished and the cast-off course knit someloopers courses are knit von the cast-0E course. Thev loopers courses onthe first and last gores are then looped togetherand the single loopsform the opening 17 for the tassel.

In the second method of knitting the 'cap there are two respects inwhich the manipulations have been changed. y In the first\ lace thetapering at both the crown and hat and ends is accomplished two needlesat a time. Inpthe second place the taper of the hatband begins with thetaper of the crown rather than after the selvedge blunt end for thehatband has been made. Thusthe blunt hatband end is opposite the shorterportion of the crown taper. Stated in another way, the crown and hatbandtapers are no longer opposed, one increasing and the other decreasingthe amount of active needles simultaneously. Assuming that the looperscourses attached to the first gore are being knit and thatthe last fullcourse is about to begin, the machine is in the position shown in Fig.6. e When this course 28-which goes fromV the hatband toward thecrown-has been knit, the two needles at the crown end, and the twoneedles 26 and the fourteen needles 27 at the hatband end are raised outof action (see Fig. 7 The machine then proceeds to knit a course asshown in Fig. 7 (the dotted position of the yarn feed and cams showstheirl relation to the needles at the completion of the previouscourse). This ,course differs from the corresponding course followingthe cast-ofil course 28 made at the end of each gore when using thismethod, in that it contains two less stitches. This difference is due tothe fact that it is mechanically convenient to drop the two needles 26lnto action at the hatband end before beginnlng the first course after acast-ofi' course. This is not mechanically necessary at the beginning ofthe first gore. The second course lowered into action at the hatbandend. Two -more courses are then knit and two more .45A previous examplesin that at the hatband end needlesraised out 'of action at the crown andtwo more lowered into. action at the hat band, this cycle of operationcontinuing until all the needles are in action at the hatband. Theselvedge is then made while continuing the last needlesoutof action atthe crown end at y thesame rate, and the example shown in the drawingsnine double courses are in the selvedge and thirty-two needles are Voutof action at the crown end when the cast-olf course .28 is made.

Thethird method is that illustrated in Fig. 5 and is more particularlyadapted to employment on flat knitting machines. It differs from bothprevious methods in that the contraction from the maximum diameter tothe hatband is accomplished in a fewer number of wales. By referring toFig. 3 it will be'seen'that the hatband taper is obtained in a'somewhatdifferent manner.l According to this method alternate courses from thecrown to the hatband and the return course of the same length are sixcourses shorter than the adjacent pair of courses on each side.- By thusmaking alternate pairs of courses short and long at the'hatband end thetotal number of stitches in the six e'nd wales istcut in half yand thenecessary shaping obtained. Referring specifically to Fig. 5, after theloopers courses are completed with the knitting ending at the crown oneneedle 29 is thrown up at the crown and six needles 30 `are thrown up atthe hatband and then a course 31 Vknit on the remaining needles. Beforethe return course 32 toward the crown is made another needle is raisedatthe crown end. After this pair of short hatband courses is completed apair of long courses 33, 34 is knit continuing raising one needle at thecrown end after each oscillation, i, e. each course.' In the exampleshown in Fig. 5 thecrown is shortened 20 courses before the gore isended by a cast-off course 35. These cast-olf courses differ from thosein the two they are six stitches short and taken with the precedingcourse form al short pair. Thus the selvedge ofthe entire cap isproduced from a continuous alternation of long and yshort pairs. In theexample shown in the drawings a number of courses in the gores are soarranged that alternate cast-off courses are long but this is immaterialsince the selvedge is the continuous alteration of longV and'short pairsalready mentioned. It will be obvious that my invention provides' asimple and economic .method of producing a knitted article such as aycap by reciprocating knitting, it being possible to shape the cap andknit the gores together in the regular process of knitting and haveselvedge edges for the hatband and selvedge loops for the crown.

In my co-pending application for patent Ser. No. 471,457, filed July2.9, 1930, I Vhave shown and described a machine in whichrmyabove-described method may be carried out and the product made.

Many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art which do notdepart from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is 1. A knitted article comprising a plurality of segmentsconverging to a point at one end and tapered to a blunt end at theother, said segments being interknit from blunt end to point.

2. A knitted article comprising a plurality of segments tapered to apoint at one end and tapered to a blunt end at the other, said segmentsbeing interknit from blunt end to point, the taper at the blunt endbeing shorter than at the pointed end. f

3. A :knitted cap comprising a plurality of tapered segments, the crownends of the segments vbeing tapered substantially toA a point and thehat band ends converging to blunt ends which constitute the hat band,said seglments being interknit from point to blunt en so.A

4. A knitted cap comprising a plurality of tapered segments, the crownends of the segy 5. A knitted cap comprising a plurality of segments,each course 1n each segment being varied in length from its neighbor atone end but a plurality of the courses bein of the maximum length at theother end, said maximum length ends being interknit to form a selvedgeat the hat band end of the cap.

' 6. A process for knitting caps of a plurality of integral segmentscomprising the steps of'knitting a plurality of courses by reciprocatingknitting. adding to one end of the group of `active needles andsubtracting from the other end, forming a'selvedge on the end added toby continuing the subtraction after the adding has stopped, alwayskeeping the stitches on needles thrownout of action, and subsequentlythrowing the idle needles back into action as a group and throwing theadded needles out of action as a group and beginning another segment inintegral successlon.

7. A knitted cap comprising a plurality of I mum number of wales in eachsegment ex- *f tending nearerl said blunt end than said pointed end andsaid segmentsbeing interknt throughout their length.

9. A process for'knitting caps of. a plurality of integral segments,`comprsmg the steps of knitting' reciprocatingly a plurality of courseson a group of needles varied at' both ends to produce a segment. taperedSubstantially to apoint at one end and tapered V to produce a bluntportion at the other end,

holding on any needles thrown out of action the *stitches last formedthereon and subsequently knitting such stitchesto the courses of an.adjacent tapered segment.

10. A knitted ,cap comprising a plurality of tapered segments interknitalong ltheir enf tire sides, theferown ends of the segments beingtapered substantially to a point, the

hat band ends of the segments being tapered to blunt selyedge ends andthe maximum Y number of walesin each segment extending nearer the hatband ends than the `crown In testimony Whereot have signed my nametothis specification.

WILSON STOUT.

